42nd Quebec general election

42nd Quebec general election

On or before October 1, 2018

125 seats in the National Assembly of Quebec 63 seats needed for a majority Opinion polls   Leader Philippe Couillard Jean-François Lisée Party Liberal Parti Québécois Leader since March 17, 2013 October 7, 2016 Leader's seat Roberval Rosemont Last election 70 seats, 41.52% 30 seats, 25.38% Current seats 69 28   Leader François Legault Françoise David and Andrés Fontecilla (as spokespeople) Party Coalition Avenir Québec Québec solidaire Leader since November 4, 2011 David: February 4, 2006 Fontecilla: May 5, 2013 Leader's seat L'Assomption David: Gouin Fontecilla: N/A Last election 22 seats, 23.05% 3 seats, 7.63% Current seats 20 3

Incumbent Premier Philippe Couillard Liberal

The 42nd Quebec general election is tentatively scheduled for October 1, 2018 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec.

Under the province's fixed election date law, passed in 2013, the election is to be held on the first Monday in October of the fourth calendar year following the last day of the previous Legislature,^[1] setting the date for October 1, 2018. However, the chief electoral officer can change the election date in the event of a natural disaster. Furthermore, the Lieutenant Governor can call an election sooner should the premier request one, or in the event the government is dissolved by a motion of no confidence.^[2] Such a dissolution is unlikely as the current government has a majority.

Timeline

2014

• April 7 – The Quebec Liberal Party wins a majority government in the 41st Quebec general election, and Philippe Couillard becomes Quebec's premier-designate. Outgoing premier Pauline Marois announces her resignation as Parti Québécois leader.^[3]
• April 10 - The Parti Québécois caucus unanimously approves Stéphane Bédard as interim leader.^[4]
• August 15 - CAQ MNA for Lévis Christian Dubé resigns his seat to take a job at the Caisse de dépôt et placement^[5]
• September 29 - PQ MNA for Richelieu Élaine Zakaïb resigns her seat to take a job at the Jacob women's clothing retailer.^[6]
• October 4 - PQ riding association presidents meet to decide rules and timeline for its leadership race.^[7]
• October 20 - In a by-election, François Paradis (CAQ) is elected MNA of Lévis with 47% of the vote.^[8]

2015

• February 26 - Liberal Yves Bolduc resigns as Minister of Education and as MNA for Jean-Talon.^[9]
• March 9 - In a by-election, Sylvain Rochon (PQ) is elected MNA of Richelieu with 35% of the popular vote.^[10]
• April 7 - CAQ MNA for Chauveau Gérard Deltell resigns his seat to run for the federal conservatives.^[11]
• May 15 - Pierre Karl Péladeau is elected leader of the Parti Québécois.^[12]
• June 8 - Two by-elections were held. The Liberals held Jean-Talon with Sébastien Proulx^[13] and gained Chauveau with Véronyque Tremblay.^[14] This took the Liberals to 71 seats in the National Assembly.
• August 21 - Liberal MNA for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne Marguerite Blais resigns her seat due to not receiving a cabinet position.^[15]
• August 24 - Liberal MNA for Fabre Gilles Ouimet resigns his seat to spend more time with his family.^[16]
• August 26 - Sylvie Roy, elected MNA for Arthabaska under the CAQ banner, leaves the party and sits as an independent.^[17]
• September 3 - PQ MNA for René-Lévesque Marjolain Dufour resigns his seat for health reasons.^[18]
• September 22 - Liberal MNA for Beauce-Sud Robert Dutil resigns his seat to take a job as senior vice-president of the construction company Canam-ponts.^[19]
• October 22 - PQ MNA for Chicoutimi Stéphane Bédard resigns his seat to spend more time with his family.^[20]
• November 9 - In by-elections Liberals Dominique Anglade, Monique Sauvé and Paul Busque retain the ridings of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne, Fabre and Beauce-Sud respectively. Martin Ouellet retains René-Lévesque for the PQ.^[21]

2016

• April 11 - In a by-election, Mireille Jean holds the riding of Chicoutimi for the PQ.^[22]
• May 2 - Pierre-Karl Péladeau resigns as PQ leader, Leader of the Opposition, and MNA for Saint-Jérôme.^[23]
• May 6 - Sylvain Gaudreault is appointed interim PQ leader.
• June 13 - PQ MNA Bernard Drainville resigns as Opposition House Leader and MNA for Marie-Victorin.
• July 31 - Independent MNA Sylvie Roy passes away, leaving the electoral district Arthabaska vacant.^[24]
• August 19 - Liberal MNA Jacques Daoust resigns as Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification and MNA for Verdun.
• October 7 - Jean-François Lisée is elected leader of the Parti Québécois.
• October 20- Liberal MNA Gerry Sklavounos is ejected from the Liberal caucus due to allegation of sexual harassment^[25]
• December 5 - By-elections in Arthabaska, Marie-Victorin, Saint-Jérôme and Verdun.

Party standings

Summary of the current standings of the
National Assembly of Quebec

Party		Party leader	Seats
			2014	Current
	Liberal	Philippe Couillard	70	69
	Parti Québécois	Jean-François Lisée	30	28
	Coalition Avenir Québec	François Legault	22	20
	Québec solidaire	Françoise David Andrés Fontecilla^†	3	3
	Independent		0	1
	Vacant			4
Total			125	125

Note:

^† The party avoids formally designating David and Fontecilla as co-leaders, as the party's power is held by the general meetings of the members and a board of 16 directors; the de jure leader recognized by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec (DGE) is Pierre-Paul St-Onge.^[26]

Opinion polls

Evolution of voting intentions for the 42nd Quebec general election. Dots are individual poll results and trend lines are local regressions with 95% confidence interval.

Polling firm	Last date of polling	Link	QLP	PQ	CAQ	QS	Other
CROP	November 21, 2016	PDF	36	24	26	11	3
Léger Marketing	November 10, 2016	PDF	31	30	25	10	4
CROP	October 17, 2016	PDF	37	30	22	9	2
Léger Marketing	September 29, 2016	PDF	35	29	23	10	4
CROP	September 19, 2016	PDF	37	27	26	9	1
Léger Marketing	September 1, 2016	PDF	34	29	23	10	4
CROP	August 15, 2016	HTML	35	25	25	12	4
CROP	June 19, 2016	HTML	34	25	24	14	3
Léger Marketing	June 8, 2016	PDF	32	30	24	10	4
CROP	May 23, 2016	PDF	34	26	27	11	3
Léger Marketing	May 5, 2016	PDF	35	30	21	10	4
CROP	April 18, 2016	HTML	33	26	25	14	3
Léger Marketing	March 22, 2016	PDF	33	30	22	10	6
CROP	March 21, 2016	HTML	32	30	24	11	3
CROP	February 15, 2016	PDF	36	31	18	12	3
Léger Marketing	February 4, 2016	PDF	36	29	21	10	5
CROP	January 18, 2016	PDF	35	27	19	16	3
CROP	December 14, 2015	PDF	37	30	17	13	3
Léger Marketing	November 19, 2015	PDF	35	32	20	10	2
CROP	November 18, 2015	PDF	36	35	16	12	2
CROP	October 18, 2015	PDF	36	33	16	12	3
CROP	September 20, 2015	PDF	37	30	18	13	2
CROP	August 17, 2015	PDF	33	29	23	13	2
CROP	June 16, 2015	HTML	34	34	17	13	2
Léger Marketing	June 11, 2015	PDF	36	32	20	10	2
CROP	May 20, 2015	HTML	29	33	20	15	3
Léger Marketing	May 17, 2015	PDF	32	34	20	10	3
CROP	April 20, 2015	PDF	34	27	25	12	2
Léger Marketing	April 9, 2015	PDF	37	28	21	10	4
CROP	March 15, 2015	HTML	29	27	26	16	2
CROP	February 15, 2015	HTML	37	26	22	11	3
Léger Marketing	February 5, 2015	PDF	37	25	25	9	4
CROP	January 19, 2015	PDF	35	26	23	13	4
CROP	December 15, 2014	HTML	35	28	27	10	1
Léger Marketing	December 11, 2014	PDF	34	26	26	11	3
CROP	November 17, 2014	HTML	36	23	24	14	3
Léger Marketing	November 13, 2014	PDF	36	26	26	10	2
CROP	October 20, 2014	PDF	40	25	23	12	0
Léger Marketing	September 25, 2014	PDF	38	21	28	10	3
CROP	September 22, 2014	PDF	35	21	30	13	1
Léger Marketing	August 25, 2014	PDF	41	22	23	10	4
CROP	August 18, 2014	PDF	41	18	27	12	2
Léger Marketing	June 18, 2014	PDF	40	20	27	9	4
CROP	June 16, 2014	PDF	39	19	29	10	3
Léger Marketing	June 5, 2014	PDF	39	20	29	9	3
CROP	May 19, 2014	PDF	41	22	24	10	3
Léger Marketing	May 8, 2014	PDF	40	19	27	11	3
CROP	April 21, 2014	PDF	40	22	23	11	3*
2014 election	April 7, 2014	HTML	41.52	25.38	23.05	7.63	2.42

* Includes 1% for Option nationale

See also

• 41st Quebec Legislature
• Politics of Quebec
• List of premiers of Quebec
• List of leaders of the Official Opposition (Quebec)
• National Assembly of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Political parties in Quebec

External links

• Web site of Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer
• Quebec Politique.com

References

1. "Bill n°3: An Act to amend the Election Act for the purpose of establishing fixed-date elections". National Assembly of Québec. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
2. "Future Quebec elections to be held on first Monday in October". CTV News. June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
3. Blatchford, Andy (April 8, 2014). "Pauline Marois Resigns PQ Leadership After Crushing Defeat". The Canadian Press. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
4. "PQ elects Stephane Bedard to interim leader post". CTV News. April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
5. Authier, Philip (August 15, 2014). "CAQ heavyweight Christian Dubé leaving politics". The Gazette. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
6. Ouellet, Martin (September 29, 2014). "Elaine Zakaïb, PQ Member, Quits Politics To Run Jacob". The Canadian Press. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
7. "Pierre Karl Péladeau working to soften his image ahead of potential PQ leadership run". Montreal Gazette. September 26, 2014.
8. Vendeville, Geoffrey (October 21, 2014). "CAQ holds the fort in Lévis byelection". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
9. Authier, Philip (February 26, 2015). "Yves Bolduc turns his back on politics, heads back to medicine". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
10. "Parti Québécois wins Richelieu riding in byelection". CBC. March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
11. "Gérard Deltell jumps into federal politics with Conservatives". CBC News. April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
12. "Pierre Karl Peladeau elected leader of Parti Quebecois". CTV News. May 15, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
13. http://resultats.dgeq.org/resultatsOfficiels.en.html?circ=643
14. http://resultats.dgeq.org/resultatsOfficiels.en.html?circ=613
15. Lau, Rachel (August 21, 2015). "Marguerite Blais quits politics, needed a challenge". Global News. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
16. "MNA Gilles Ouimet to quit politics". Montreal Gazette. August 24, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
17. "Sylvie Roy quits CAQ to sit as independent". CTV News. August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
18. Plante, Caroline (September 3, 2015). "PQ MNA Marjolain Dufour quits for health reasons". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
19. "Robert Dutil, former Quebec cabinet minister, retiring from National Assembly". CBC News. September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
20. Plante, Caroline (October 22, 2015). "Veteran PQ MNA Stéphane Bédard quits Parti Québécois". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
21. "Le PLQ et le PQ en voie de conserver leurs sièges". Le Devoir, November 9, 2015.
22. "Élection partielle dans Chicoutimi le 11 avril". Radio Canada. March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
23. http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/469734/pkp-doit-faire-une-importante-declaration-vers-14h
24. "MNA Sylvie Roy dies following serious illness". CTV Montreal. August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
25. http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/politique-quebecoise/201610/20/01-5032524-allegations-dagression-sexuelle-gerry-sklavounos-force-de-se-retirer-du-caucus-liberal.php
26. "Québec solidaire". DGE. Retrieved April 8, 2014.